After over a year and a half of hard fought political campaigning, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States on Friday, Jan. 20, 2017.
The forecast called for rain. Thousands of people from across the country gathered in Washington D.C. on Friday morning, clad in rain jackets and rain boots. Vendors were selling plastic ponchos among their memorabilia inauguration merchandise. The weather did not bother the adamant supporters, who were determined to watch history – rain or shine.
Trump commented on the suspected rain the day before, welcoming the potential waterworks, “It may rain, it may not rain. It doesn’t matter. I don’t care. If it pours, that’s okay because people will realize it’s my real hair, and that’s okay. It might be a mess, but they’re going to see that it’s my real hair.”
A rather unusually warm day for the month of January, the weather seemed to hold up. During the swearing in of Vice President Mike Pence, rain drops began to drip down. The crowd didn’t seem to mind. Minutes later, Trump stepped up and then the rain suddenly began to stop.
Nicole Benis, who recently graduated Monmouth with a political science degree said, “It seemed to go smoothly and you can see the gracious attitude from both President Obama and President Trump.”
The essence of his inaugural speech was centered around American patriotism and giving back the power of the government to the people. He insinuated that the inauguration taking place was “not a transition from one administration to the other, but from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the people.”
Similar to Bernie Sanders, Trump spoke about the small group in our nation’s Capital that has reaped the rewards of government while the people have born the cost, how politicians get richer while the people grow poorer. He promised the end of career politicians “who are all talk and no action.”
Trump declared the time of empty talk is over, and now arrives the hour of action. He put that talking point in to action on Monday by signing one of three executive orders that will freeze the hiring of federal employees, except for the military, law enforcement, and health services.
He vowed to always put America first during his years serving as president, and that every decision on trade, taxes, immigration, and foreign fairs would be made to benefit American workers and their families.
He outlined his objectives for America to start winning again “like never before” by following two simple rules: to hire American and to buy American. He listed his intentions to “bring back our jobs, our borders, our wealth and our dreams.”
He followed up on this by signing the second of his three executive orders which withdrew American participation in the trade deal negotiated under the Obama Administration, the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
He also has expressed interest in renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which is a trade agreement between Canada, Mexico, and the United States that was enacted in 1994.
Director of the Kislak Real Estate Institute and Specialist Professor at Monmouth, Peter Reinhart, said, “The agreement includes a provision that allows a country to withdraw from the agreement by giving six months’ notice.”
Reinhart continued, “So, President Trump could give that notice without any more consent from Congress. Whether the President will formally issue the withdrawal notice, or instead threaten to do so unless the agreement is renegotiated remains to be seen.”
Trump also focused on infrastructure, specifically stating his intentions to rebuild our nation’s roads, bridges, airports, railways and highways “with American hands and American labor.” According to multiple news sources, Trump met with union leaders on Monday and stressed the importance of keeping jobs in the country.
Trump promised for America to start winning again, in every possible aspect. He illustrated his intentions to unify the country through patriotism, proclaiming that when America is united, it will be “totally unstoppable.”
However, unifying the country may take some time. Stephen Chapman, Director of the Master’s program in Public Policy at Monmouth, said, “I think we are clearly living in a polarized time and the inauguration did not do much to quell that sentiment. In respect to Trump’s inauguration speech, the clear reaction was that it painted a dark picture of the current state of our country. This is a disappointment for any incoming president, as the intention of the inaugural speech is to begin to unify the country after a long election season.” However, only the future will tell what Trump’s Presidency will hold.”
IMAGE TAKEN from publicdomainpictures.net
